Escape
by CloakPotion255
Summary: Oneshot. Severus Snape's escape from Hogwarts after killing Albus Dumbledore. Harry will not let him get away that easily.


Snape watched as his mentor, his best friend and the closest thing he had to a father disappeared over the railings. Shock overcame him as he imagined Albus' body falling, he longed to run to the railing and see the headmaster alive but he knew that it was impossible. He, Severus Snape, had killed him. He forced himself to move; Draco looked close to crying. He put a hand on his shoulder and steered him towards the stairs. Fear gripped him, guilt and sadness coming in waves but he forced them back. Feeling completely numb he made his way through the great hall, barely hearing Bellatrix destroying everything in her path. ' _Get Draco to safety'_ was all he thought as they exited the castle onto the grounds.

Behind the icy mask that he portrayed to the world, Severus Snape's mind was flashing back to one of the last conversation he had with the headmaster.

….

"I fear that the time is coming ever closer, my boy" said Dumbledore. He eyed Snape with concern, the boy was not faring well; he was pale and exhausted, the slight tremor in his frame was the tell-tale signs that he was not eating properly again. "Albus, I will carry out what I promised but I do not want to do this anymore" he sighed. "I am sorry that I have put you in this position, but there is no other way. We must stick to the plan". With a curt nod, Snape turned on the spot and made his way back to the door but the headmaster called his name before he even reached it. "Severus, are you okay?". The potions master slowly turned back around, "Yes headmaster, if you'll excuse me, I am very busy". And he left, leaving the headmaster even more worried about the professor than he had before.

…

Before they reached the apparition point, there was a shout of "SNAPE!" from behind them. The death eaters turned on the spot to see Harry Potter running towards them, wand aloft. Snape could almost see the anger pulsing through him. He turned to Draco and told him to go on and he would catch up before turning back to Potter, ready to cast a protection charm. He easily deflected the spells thrown at him, the silly Gryffindor was so obvious about it. Severus knew he was angering Potter even more by lazily deflecting the charms, a voice in the back of his mind told him this was not a good idea.

Severus could feel the adrenaline wearing off as the slight shake that had plagued him most of the year started to return. Potter chose that moment to cast a particularly strong stupefy charm at him, he was not ready for that power. It took all of his strength to deflect this charm, getting desperate that he would not last much longer, he sent it back at the Gryffindor. It knocked Harry off his feet and threw him onto his back a few meters back.

The potions master took a few moments to recover, pushing the weakness away; willing himself to last until Potter was dealt with, before stalking towards the boy on the floor. "SECTUMSEMPRA", Harry yelled, and the curse missed Snape by inches. Reaching Harry, Snape stood over him and said in the calmest, coldest voice he could muster, "How dare you use my own spells against me, Potter. You are just like your father, too stupid to do anything yourself so you steal off others".

Suddenly there was a bang and the potions master found himself on his back in the grass, his wand lying just out of reach with Potter looking down on him. "How. Dare. You. Insult. My. Father. You. Coward", he shouted, punctuating each word with a kick to the professors side. Severus' world exploded in pain as Potter repeatedly kicked him, involuntarily curling in on himself . When his vision cleared, he rolled onto his back and looked into the young Gryffindor's face, it was full of rage and pure hatred. Snape had to think quickly, this was not part of Dumbledore's plan. He could not die here, now, at the hands of Potter otherwise Dumbledore had died for nothing. This thought drove him on as he made a dive for his wand, but Potter was ready. He smashed his foot into the Slytherin's stomach before he managed to get his fingers around the handle. Severus fell back onto his side and retched, only bringing up a bit of water and blood before he was dry heaving, silently glad that he hadn't eaten anything proper for a long time. The boy looked down at his professor, watching him as his stomach cramped but brought nothing up. Dumbledore's words came back to him; " _Harry, I trust Professor Snape with my life"._ The Gryffindor was caught unawares as a flicker of concern ignited in his stomach but was soon smothered by anger and hatred again as his mind replayed the scene on the tower less than 10 minutes ago. However, this was the momentary lapse that Snape had been waiting for, summoning all of his remaining strength and control he thought "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS". There was a white flash and Harry Potter fell back, arms and legs stuck to his side, stiff as a board.

Severus groaned, pain grasping him, willing him to pass out. But he knew he couldn't, he needed to get to the apparition point before anyone else came to find out what was going on. Slowly and painfully he picked up his wand and made his way to his feet; his non-wand arm wrapped tightly around his chest. Once he made it to his feet, he glanced at Potter one last time before jogging the rest of the way to the edge of the forest, ignoring the exhaustion which threatened to overcome him. Turning on the spot, he let his dark mark take him to Voldemort, hoping against hope that he would have enough strength left to make it without splinching himself.


End file.
